


catch me (before i disappear)

by CeruleanWind



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Noyahina, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, ahhh this ship is v underrated
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:56:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24193189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeruleanWind/pseuds/CeruleanWind
Summary: Hinata and Nishinoya are both unhappy with their soulmarks. That changes, however, on a normal Friday morning at Starbucks.Written for Hinata Rare Pair Week 2020. Prompt: Coffee Shop AU
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Nishinoya Yuu
Comments: 6
Kudos: 247
Collections: Haikyuu!!, Hinata Rare Pair Week 2020





	catch me (before i disappear)

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, let's see... I feel like I have to explain the soulmate AU I'm using in this. Basically, you have your soulmate's first words tattooed on your forearm, but the words disappear when your soulmate touches you. I hope this makes sense! Enjoy :)

Nishinoya Yuu is having a crisis.

While all his friends are out meeting their soulmates and having the loveliest times, Nishinoya is stuck with the vaguest soulmark of all. He glances down at his forearm, sighing upon seeing the words “Could I get a white chocolate mocha, extra whip?” printed on his arm in solid black lettering.

Why does he have to have such a dumb soulmark? Nishinoya considers this, however, when he’s standing behind the counter at Starbucks. Maybe, if soulmates are fate and all that, he ended up working at Starbucks for a reason. Some god-forsaken reason that Nishinoya knows nothing about.

He concedes that he could have it worse. Some people probably just have “Hey. Nice to meet you!” tattooed on their arm. At least, Nishinoya can narrow his soulmate down a little.

“Hey, man!” Nishinoya’s friend, Tanaka, greets, pulling on his green Starbucks apron. “How’s it going today?”

Nishinoya settles for a simple “Good, thanks,” as he wipes down the espresso machines. “How about you? How was your date with Shimizu-san last night?”

Shimizu is Tanaka’s soulmate. They met a few months ago, and all seems to be going well, according to Nishinoya. All he can do right now is cheer his best friend on, because he can’t do much more than that. By now, Tanaka’s soulmark is long gone. The mark disappears after your soulmate touches you, and sometimes Nishinoya is ashamed to be walking around with his still printed boldly onto his arm.

“Ah, well, it was good,” replies Tanaka, reddening. “I can’t believe I’m soulmates with someone as amazing as Kiyoko. I sometimes think I don’t deserve it.” He clutches at his heart in a dramatic fashion, pretending to be dying.

Nishinoya grins and playfully punches Tanaka in the shoulder. “Let’s get to work, lover boy. Honestly, I don’t know how Shimizu-san deals with you.”

They both scoff and get to work, cleaning the machines and occasionally stopping to fill a customer’s order. Nothing out of the ordinary for a Friday morning at Starbucks.

-

Hinata Shouyou is also having a crisis.

He glares at the words printed on his forearm, hoping to will them away with his mind. He hates his soulmark, and he hates the way he’s approaching things. Hinata’s soulmark reads “Welcome to Starbucks, can I take your order?”. At this point, Hinata wants to give up.

“Good morning, Kageyama-kun!” Hinata greets in his usual cheerful tone. He pushes the thought of his soulmark to the back of his head temporarily and focuses more on annoying his roommate-slash-best friend.

Kageyama pulls his comforter over his head and turns to have his back to the wall. “Shut up, dumbass,” he grumbles, his voice muffled by the many layers covering him. “Honestly, I don’t have any classes today. Can’t you let me sleep in a little?”

“Boo. I guess I’ll go down to the Starbucks,” Hinata sighs, but not before he cracks open the window of their apartment and lets in all the noise from the busy street below. “Enjoy your rest, Kageyama!”

Hinata makes an effort to visit Starbucks every day. Since his soulmark gives him some idea about where to find his soulmate, he wants to use as many hints as he gets. However, since every Starbucks barista in existence uses the same words printed on Hinata’s arm, he resorts to different methods.

The method Hinata thought of was this: he would high-five every Starbucks barista he talks to, and if his soulmark disappears, then he would know. Sadly, Hinata hasn’t had any luck yet, and sometimes the baristas look at him weirdly for offering a high-five.

Hinata reaches the street below and gapes upon seeing people lined up out the door of his favourite Starbucks—the one right across the street. “Today is not my day, is it?” he mumbles to himself as he sets off down the street for another less-populated Starbucks.

-

“Today is a really slow day,” complains Nishinoya, sitting up on the counter. He knows he isn’t supposed to do that, but he can’t resist—today is such a hot day, and the fan behind the counter does _not_ do the trick.

Tanaka agrees before downing an entire cup of ice water. A perk of working at Starbucks is the fact that you can have as many free drinks as you want (as long as there aren’t any tattletales watching). Nishinoya and Tanaka abuse this privilege way too much.

Suddenly, the door opens, and a rather striking individual walks in. He has bright orange hair and an incredibly energetic demeanour. Nishinoya slides off the counter and comes to stand in front of the register, offering his usual spiel of “Welcome to Starbucks, can I take your order?”

“Could I get a white chocolate mocha, extra whip?” the stranger asks with a beaming smile. He glances behind the counter to where Tanaka is looking at him suspiciously. Tanaka knows Nishinoya’s soulmark by memory.

Nishinoya stiffens. However, he brushes it off, because it’s quite a common order, really, and he shouldn’t get his hopes up. “Yeah. That’ll be $4.78,” he says, ringing up the order on the register.

The stranger hands Nishinoya the money, and immediately does something strange—he holds up his hand for a high-five. Nishinoya, being the person he is, grins and smacks the stranger’s hand. He already likes this boy. “Cool! I’ll have it ready in just a sec,” Nishinoya adds, throwing another glance in the stranger’s direction as he turns away.

Nishinoya gets to work on making the drink, somewhat happy. It’s not every day that you get customers like that. Usually, they’re coming in for coffee, so they’re almost always lethargic. This boy is the complete opposite. As Nishinoya finishes up the drink, he does a double-take upon seeing his forearm.

It is completely blank.

Nishinoya stops dead in his tracks, his mouth agape. He takes a moment to process this. So this boy is really his soulmate? Nishinoya gasps and goes over to Tanaka, leaning to whisper in his best friend’s ear.

“My soulmark’s gone. I think it’s him,” Nishinoya breathes, his heart threatening to pound out of his chest. 

Tanaka grabs Nishinoya’s arm and stares at it for a few seconds. “Oh, gods,” Tanaka whispers back. “Go talk to him, man! Go!” He gives Nishinoya a little shove and offers him a thumbs-up.

Nishinoya grabs the drink with shaky hands and makes his way over to where the stranger is sitting. He’s sitting right by the window, and the sunlight tangling in his hair really makes him look spectacular. Nishinoya swallows, already nervous.

“Um, here you go,” he says, placing the drink in front of the stranger. Nishinoya wants to say something about the soulmark, but he doesn’t know how. Wouldn’t it be weird to just say that to a stranger?

Ah, screw it.

“Sorry, but after you high-fived me, I noticed that, well, um, my soulmark disappeared. Did yours?” Nishinoya clasps his hands behind his back and waits for the boy’s answer.

The stranger glances down at his arm and gasps. “Yeah, it did! So then we’re…”

“…soulmates?” Nishinoya finishes, a smile growing on his face.

The stranger leaps up from his table and launches into a hug. Nishinoya, thrilled, hugs him back, a weird feeling building in his stomach that’s a mix of nervousness and relief.

“I’m Hinata Shouyou,” the boy introduces himself after pulling away from the hug. “Call me whatever you want. I—wait, are you shorter than me?”

Nishinoya frowns. He doesn’t like it when people make fun of him for his height, but for some reason, he doesn’t mind it as much. “Yeah, probably,” Nishinoya replies with a light chuckle. “Well, nice to meet you, Shouyou.” Nishinoya tries the name out on his tongue. He likes it. “I’m Nishinoya Yuu.”

“Cool! I’ll call you Noya, then!” Hinata replies. “All right, c’mon. Sit down. We gotta talk about our life stories—oh wait, you’re working, aren’t you?”

Nishinoya nods. “Sorry, Shouyou. I get off in two hours, though, so maybe I could give you my phone number and we could hang out this afternoon?” He gives a sheepish smile, weirdly shy for such a loud personality. “But I bet my friend over there wouldn’t like it if I left my shift, huh?”

Hinata laughs, playfully hitting Nishinoya’s arm. “Yeah! Okay, here’s my phone. Just put your number in there.” He sighs, waiting patiently as Nishinoya enters his number. “Man, I was getting a little worried, you know? It sucks having ‘Welcome to Starbucks, can I take your order?’ on your arm, like how am I supposed to find my soulmate like that?”

“Let’s just say it’s fate,” Nishinoya replies with a grin, handing Hinata’s phone back. “All right. I should probably get back. It was really nice meeting you!”

Hinata goes in for one more hug before grabbing his drink and heading out the door. “Bye, Noya!” he shouts before skipping along down the sidewalk.

“You’re smitten already,” Tanaka says as Nishinoya goes back behind the counter. “Aren’t you?”

“Shut up, Ryuu,” Nishinoya says, and he can’t help but blush.

Now it’s Tanaka’s turn to tease his best friend about his soulmate.

-

Hinata barges through the door of his apartment, drink in hand. “Kageyama,” he calls through the apartment. “Guess what? I met my soulmate at Starbucks!”

While Kageyama usually doesn’t care, this is a huge thing for Hinata, and because he’s a supportive friend (most of the time), Kageyama emerges out of his room and says in a gravelly voice, “Why don’t you tell me about them?”

Hinata takes a deep breath.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for making it this far! If you want, you can follow me on Tumblr @the-ultimate-oof for more Haikyuu shenanigans!


End file.
